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Arvola
The vast island of Arvola was once considered among the continents of the world. Its thickly wooded valleys have given rise to immense cities and its prosperous civilisations have reached out to the mainlands and added much of the world to their domains. Although virtually all of these former colonies have by now seceded into their own nations, the widespread visual impact of Arvolan colonisation can still be seen today, and is commonly known as Arvolanisation. For a long time, Arvola was thought of as the centre of the world, both culturally and politically. Conflict had frequently resulted from how tightly packed the nations were on the island. However, as urbanisation kept increasing, so did conditions become more cramped, generating fierce public resentment towards the borders, until the furious Arvolan wars devastated the land, leaving many ruins and displacing many people. Now the island has largely stepped down from the world stage, and still holds large-scale internal struggle and redevelopment challenges to face if it is to recover. __TOC__ Geography The Arvolan landscape is a rough and jagged combination of hills and peninsulas, originally being home to a complete covering of trees but later giving rise to several long roads, grand buildings and narrow alleyways. In fact, so much forest has given way to urban construction, that borders between cities are frequently becoming blurred. The shape of the island is roughly made up of three peninsulas extruding from its centre. On the west is the peninsula that makes up the historic region of Espan, further dividing into the peninsulas of Huesta and Bastive. Meanwhile, to the south extends a curled peninsula, consisting of what was originally Tykeri, an empire made of several tribes which had formed due to its interesting terrain features. Dividing Espan and Tykeri is an extensive natural harbour, cutting deep into the centre of the island, known as Octeri Bay. Finally, to the east lies a significantly smaller peninsula, created by the formation of Shark Bay, and it is around here that the nation of Birchunstain was once located. The islands of Hoslin Brot and Denatia seem to be extensions of the land, only separated by a thin river. This can also be said about an island which lies off the coast of the Tykerian peninsula and has historically been treated as mainland, but is currently unnamed. History Early history The earliest sign of human habitation in the area comes from the island of Denatia, where ancient settlers probably built simple houses much like the ones that exist there today. These people are suspected to be from neighbouring Stolland of unknown origins. As they came from an overseas location, they must have used boats of some kind and were probably skilled fishers. Not long after, many other tribes gradually became established. It was the incredible congestion of territorial boundaries such as lakes, hills, rivers and peninsulas, that caused so many factions to form, and it was due to this congestion that land was highly valued and conflicts for it were common. There is evidence to suggest that Denatia was the birthplace of the first modern country in the world, known as 'Denat,' followed by the kingdom of Espan, the nation of Oakania, the empire of Tykeri, and the realm of Birchunstain. Colonial expansion As these countries advanced their naval capabilities, they quickly became interested in acquiring overseas territory, for their own lands had largely been exploited. Denat was the earliest to do so, as the passage from Denatia to where Avetown is now in Stolland was probably well known to them by then. It named the continent Stolland after the abundant stone the settlers saw where they landed, and established Costa Grande there, literally meaning 'big coast' in Spanish, referring to the immense bay around which it is situated. As Denat allied with the people of the neighbouring island, the Oakanians, forming the Island Alliance, they allowed them to start a settlement south of Costa Grande, in a forested area. This grew to become the thriving metropolis of Eastington. Later on, the South Alliance (Birchunstain and Tykeri) joined forces to acquire new territory. The island of Kania was split between the two, with the north going to Birchunstain and the south going to Tykeri, while Southlands near Continua was made the property of Birchunstain, and Acacia Isle, also in the area but just off the coast of the continent, was claimed by Tykeri. The island of X-nos was shared between the two for military purposes, but after the South alliance split up, Tykeri resolved to keep it for itself. Finally, the Espan navy was the slowest to develop, but in response to fear of getting left severely behind by other nations, an expedition was made to sail far in one direction. Eventually, the island of Topos was found, and not too far from it, the much grander island of Loxeii, just off of the continent of Continua. The colonial land of Espan expanded when it was handed Acacia Isle by Tykeri, and again when it established the state of Tabla on the mainland of Continua. Decolonisation In spite of seemingly booming colonies, the general trend in Arvolan colonies was discontentment with their overseas rulers. This was so apparent for Tykerian colonies that two independence movements happened almost simultaneously, one from X-nos and neighbouring island Archunstain, which would come out of it to form the nation of Exynesia, and the other from South Kania. The West Stolland Confederation (from Denat and Tykeri) and the Continuan Union (from Espan) would also gain independence in this way much later on. In contrast, the original colonial lands of Denat and Oakania on Stolland were valued so highly over the tiny islands where they originated, that they were made the capitals of their nations and became the centre of their nationalism and prosperity. Free Arvola Civil unrest would also frequently strike the Arvolan powers on the mainland, since individuals who felt that political borders on the island depleted it of its full potential, created the radical organisation of Free Arvola, with the aim of overthrowing the powers. Some of their tactics included rallying support, illegal border crossing and ambushing guards. It is even speculated that they were the cause of the Great Arvolan Bushfire, which devastated the last internationally recognised wildlife reserve on the island. The powers in turn labelled it as a terrorist organisation, before they effectively wiped it out. First Arvolan War Some time after the formations of Exynesia and South Kania, Tykeri, being significantly depleted of most of is land, and sensing threat from the Island Alliance which recently welcomed Tykeri's enemy Exynesia, united with neighbours Birchunstain and Espan in an alliance known as the Arvolan International Union. This movement predictably sparked a war on a scale never before experienced on NVE, which came to be known as the First Arvolan War. After an initial skirmish between Denat and Espan, a ceasefire was declared. This set the scene for the senate of Birchunstain, which had currently stationed most of its military in North Kania, and was experiencing severe political strife, to collapse. Taking advantage of the situation, Denat efficiently stormed Bamboo Bay and claimed it as its own, but the forces of Tykeri and Espan were enough to repel them from spreading to the rest of the island. In the end, Denat was left with the Bamboo Bay, which rivalled Costa Grande in prosperity (but not in population), Tykeri was left with the smaller city of Oak in the centre of Arvola and Espan settled with the remaining forest. As a result of the war, Birchunstain's colony of Southland declared its independence, while its other colony of North Kania united with South Kania to form a new country known as Kania, which was to encompass the entire island. Second Arvolan War Unfortunately for Arvolans though, the newfound peace brought about by this resolve was short lived, as the Arvola Freedom Party of Tykeri, inspired by Neo Free Arvolans in Kania, sought to unite all Arvolans under one rule; Tykerian of course. The AFP's attack on Espan was both sudden and seemingly unprovoked, with Espan having little to defend their land with after the casualties of the First Arvolan War. However, Denat's unexpected declaration of war on both Tykeri and Espan was even more so, as it was the Denatians who managed to storm through the castle of Espan king Juan Tiges. Consequently, the Tykerians redrafted their plans and retreated all their troops from Bastive, only to launch a full scale amphibious assault on Bamboo Bay instead. However, although also sending troops to defend their city, the Denatians continued their assault on Espan and to help them arrived Oakanian forces, as Denat and Oakania was still allied under the Island Alliance. Another dramatic twist in the story then came about when Juan Tiges sent a desperate letter to the Tykerians while the invading Denatians were right outside his throne room, telling the AFP that he would hand over all his country's land and military to them as long as he could still rule over the Kingdom of Espan under the Arvolan Federation. Subsequently, deciding that it was better not to take part in the war against a growing world power, Oakania granted independence to Holsin Brot, which was where their troops were and restored relations with the newly formed Arvolan Federation. The motives behind this independence were purely political and the incorporation of Hoslin Brot into the federation was inevitable. It came to be that the Second Arvolan War ended in somewhat of an anticlimax as the Denatian forces in Bamboo Bay, realising that the odds were heavily stacked against them, decided to surrender their territory gained from the First Arvolan War in exchange for peace. In this way, Denat also managed to save the majority of its troops and retreated them to the island of Denatia.